Random

~ The year of the rat begins tomorrow. The new year partying began on Guam today in some restaurants. I'm actually a year of the monkey sorta guy -- which surprises no one. And in Chinese folk astrology the monkeys are most compatible with the rats. All in fun.

Google had some special Chinese New Year artwork up on their Chinese search engine today.

~ Dan Whitmarsh has a review of Scot McKnight's book A Community Called Atonement. I agree. It's a great book -- best theology book I read last year. -- Link

~ Kent Anderson is excited about Dave Olson's book The American Church in Crisis -- lots of charts and graphs. I'm waiting for my Amazon copy to ship. -- Link

~ A 39-year-old Czech-built retired military plane made the world's first canola-powered jet flight in October. Apparently the plane has been re-engineered and can use lots of different kinds of fuel -- gasoline, home-heating oil, biodiesel... They just have to fly low to keep the fuel from gooping up at the colder altitudes. -- Link

~ Healthy living ends up costing society more according to a new Dutch study. "Compared to obese people and smokers, healthy people place a greater burden on health care systems" because it costs more to care for people who live longer. -- Link